How the (Little) Pros Do It

We're hoping you won't recognize this scenario, but we know that some of you will: on a Friday or Saturday, the mail comes, and in it is an overdue notice from us. What gives? You returned those books and DVDs last week, and on time!

We are undergoing an awkward period in NPL history: too many books are being shelved without being checked in. Our collective faces are burning red!

We meet as a staff about the problem. We conference on the run. Lucinda orders triple-checks, one above the usual double check. How do they slip through our systems? The last thing anyone needs is an overdue notice on returned books!

There is one thing we ask of patrons: when you're in the library, please use the book return slot. We have found that books left on the counter have occasionally ended up on shelves. This doesn't account for all our mistakes, but we'll know where the returned books are. Putting them through the slot doesn't injure the books. And don't worry about our back as we stoop to pull them out. We'll survive! Sometimes we find books on the counter, and we don't know why they are there.

So take a lesson from our young patrons, Caleb and Madeleine Zuckerman, and use the slot!

And thanks!